People from all over the world and from every economic strata use Facebook to keep in touch with friends and family in a way that would not have been possible or imagined before the internet was created. Most of the time, this is a good thing. When it comes to a high asset divorce, however, Facebook can cost a Texas resident in court. Nothing on this social media site or others that are similar is truly private and is not necessarily ever truly deleted.
In a divorce, this is not good news. In many cases, it is not necessary to allege grounds for divorce, but adverse information can serve other purposes when it comes to property division, spousal or child support or custody. This is why it is recommended that an individual going through a divorce either takes a vacation from social media or carefully monitors and controls what information is out there. Even so, when a Texas resident is careful about the content on his or her Facebook page, friends might not be so diligent.
In recent years, many people involved in divorce or custody battles have been confronted with evidence from Facebook that directly contradicts what they are telling the court. For example, some individuals claim to be broke and unemployed when faced with paying alimony or child support, but are caught posting photos about a large purchase or vacation. Simply blocking a soon-to-be ex-spouse is probably not going to be enough to keep the information secret — especially since many married couples share friends on Facebook prior to the divorce.
Anyone involved in a high asset divorce would more than likely benefit from taking a break from social media until the divorce is final. Information from electronic sources, including social media sites, is becoming commonplace in divorce proceedings. Thanks to computer forensics, the 1,000 words that a picture can say about you could end up creating an advantage for your spouse.
Source: FindLaw, “Facebook Divorce“, Accessed on Nov. 21, 2016
